4th September 2016
Clermont (Oise)
72nd anniversary of the Liberation
Tribute to Georges Fleury, his family
and the whole of the Clermont Resistance.
Copyright © 2016 - Association des Sauveteurs d'Aviateurs Alliés - All rights reserved -
En français 
This day of commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of the Liberation began in front of the war memorial of the town where a large crowd had gathered.
After rekindling the flame of remembrance in memory of the inhabitants of the town who died for France, Mr Lionel Ollivier, the mayor, recalled the troubled period of the Occupation, the suffering and privations endured by the population during this dark period of our history. He recalled the active role of local Resistance without forgetting the drama of the terrible bombing of Allied Aviation suffered by the town on 25th August 1944 just some days before its Liberation on 1st September by the U.S. Army.
Speech of Lionel Ollivier, the mayor of Clermont.
"The memory is what unites us" he concluded before the laying of wreaths and the national anthem.
The laying of wreaths.
The whole audience was then invited to go in procession to the rue Pierre Vienot to attend the unveiling of a plaque in honor of the Resistance.
The commemoration continued outside the home of Georges Fleury. In this house, a centre of the Resistance in Clermont during World War II, Georges Fleury, head of the “Centre-Oise” area of O.C.M. (Organisation Civile et Militaire) under the pseudonym of "Carrière", organised clandestine meetings and the fight against the occupier.
Annette, the youngest daughter of Georges Fleury, accompanied by her grand-son, had the honour of unveiling the plaque at the entrance to the house which was an emotional moment followed by the “Chant des Partisans”, the song of the French Resistance.
Annette and her grandson unveiling the plaque honouring the Resistance in Clermont.
This plaque does not show the name of the Fleury family. She had wished to pay tribute to all the members of the Resistance of the town who fought against the occupier.
Then the official speeches began.
Dominique Lecomte, chairman of the ASAA-OISE, was the first to speak. He traced the life of Georges Fleury, his involvement and that of his family who, in the early months of the occupation, had not given up and entered the Resistance immediately. Facing the enemy's omnipresence and ruthless repression Georges Fleury succeeded, over time and despite all the risks, in organizing and bringing together people of conviction which allowed our country to regain its freedom.
He also recalled that this house was a refuge for many Allied airmen shot down in our region. Georges Fleury, his wife Rachel and their three children, France-Raphaelle, Alain and Annette gave shelter to more than a dozen men who had fallen from the sky during the war. France-Raphaelle, Alain and Annette sometimes conveyed them to Creil or even Paris. A number of these airmen came from or were delivered to the network "Alsace", directed by Gilbert Thibault in Auneuil in the Beauvais area. Agreed contacts then led them on the way to Freedom, via Spain or Brittany before they could eventually reach England.
The unconditional commitment of the Legrand-Sauvage family was associated with this tribute to the local Resistance. Living a few meters from the Kommandantur and well known traders in Clermont, Gaston Legrand, his friend Odette Sauvage and her son Edmond did not hesitate to host more than twenty Allied airmen during the conflict. At the ceremony we had the great honor to welcome Cherryl Warren and Glenda Gray, coming specifically from Texas and Colorado, daughter and granddaughter of 2nd Lt. Glenn E. Camp. He was hidden for three weeks by the Legrand-Sauvage family in January 1944. They had wanted to attend the ceremony and to express their deep gratitude to all those French families who took so many risks helping the airmen escape from the enemy.
The prominent role of doctors, such as Dr. Gaston Redaud, was recalled. With a permit to circulate, they also participated in healing, transporting and accommodating these men who had fallen from the sky and who brought a sense of Freedom.
Before giving the floor to others, on behalf of the Association of Rescuers of Allied airmen, Dominique Lecomte, thanked all the Fleury family, the municipality and the county government for agreeing to this tribute to those who had not given up. This plaque will remind future generations that at this place those who had chosen not to give in, had met, to fight against oppression despite fear of arrest, torture and deportation from which so few returned.
Jean-Marc Sauvage, Odette‘s grandson, then took the floor briefly, evoking the suffering of the population especially during the aerial bombing of the town a few days before the Liberation. He concluded with these words: "It is important to remember all those who one day chose to fight. If they had not been there, we certainly would not have the same life today and we would not perhaps be talking the same language! "
Jean-Marc Sauvage
Patrick Fleury
It was then the turn of Patrick Fleury, Georges Fleury’s grandson, to express his pride in the honour bestowed upon his grandfather and his family, and by all those who attended this symbolic Resistance place at Clermont. He also wanted to introduce his aunt Annette who unveiled the plaque. Aged 18 in 1944, she participated in many acts of Resistance throughout the war until the Liberation. In February 1946, she left Clermont to take up a supervisory position in a College of the French occupation zone in Germany near Lake Constance. There she met her future husband, originating from Alsace and a former resistance fighter wounded in action in the department of Vienne. They then settled definitively in Lorraine.
Patrick Fleury then gave the floor to his son Benjamin, who read the moving testimony of Mr Roger Folliot, aka "Titou" who, because of his age, could unfortunately not attend the ceremony. A strong and faithful companion of Alain Fleury, he was considered as a child of the family and participated in the transmission of illegal documents, receiving nocturnal drops of weapons and many other dangerous actions intended to harm the occupant.
As the official ceremony was ending, Patrick Fleury thanked all those who had helped achieve this memorable day before the municipality invited us to a friendly reception.
This reception was a wonderful occasion for people to meet together !
convoyeur of airmen for the escape network "Burgundy"
His grandparents sheltered his father in January 1944.
Gilbert Thibault’s cousin, who was the head of the “Alsace” escape network.
Besides this ceremony of the 4th September, an exhibition was presented in the Clermont town hall by the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés and the Association des Anciens F.F.I (French Forces of the Interior) et leurs Amis chaired by Patrick Fleury.
Different panels featuring photos and unpublished documents referred to the role of the Resistance in Clermont, and the help given to the Allied airmen and the Liberation of the town.
About 250 visitors of all ages, including witnesses of this painful period of our local history or their children, visited us for days of wonderful encounters and enriching exchanges.
